Logistics management information system performance for program drugs in public health facilities of East Wollega Zone, Oromia regional state, Ethiopia

Proper logistics management information system in the supply chain improves health outcomes by maintaining accurate and timely information. The purpose of this study was to determine program drugs logistics management information system performance in public health facilities of East Wollega Zone, Oromia Regional State.

A facility-based descriptive cross-sectional study design complemented with a qualitative method was conducted from April 01 to May 30, 2017. The quantitative data were gathered through reviewing logistics tools, a physical count of the selected program drugs, and interview of the pharmacy staffs. The evaluation of data quality was done on 134 RRFs and 805 bin-cards. A statistical package for social science version 20 was used to analyze the quantitative data. A chi-square test was performed to determine the association between dependent and independent variables. For the qualitative method, 11 face to face in-depth interviews were carried out, and the data were analyzed using thematic analysis technique.

Twenty three selected public health facilities were included in the study of which 39% of them had an automated recording system. Concerning the data quality, 65% of RRFs and 79.1% of bin-cards were accurately filled, and 97.8% of the reports were found to be complete. Sixty-nine percent of the facilities had timely submitted their report to the higher level and the reporting rate of the facilities was determined to be 97%. A significant association was observed between RRF data accuracy and type of profession, X² (4, N = 134) =35.0, P = 0.040, trainings, X² (2, N = 134) =37.12, P = 0.001, e-LMIS, X² (2, N = 134) = 38.67, P = 0.03, educational status, X² (2,N = 134) = 90.38, P = 0.012, & supervision, X² (2, N = 134) = 94.03,P < 0.001. Shortage of skilled human resources and poor commitment of the staffs were identified to be the major bottlenecks of logistics management information system performances.

The facilities’ report submission rates were promising yet the quality of the reports need improvement. Poor data quality was more likely because of weak supportive supervision and the information system being managed by non-pharmacy professionals.